Kingdom Life: Living in the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

By Rhonda J. Mead

KINGDOM LIFE ___________________________________________

There is more! For those of you who have been longing for more in your personal walk with Jesus, wondering what you are missing, knowing there must be more––there is!

The present truth now being made clear to the body of Christ is that God's purpose has always been for His kingdom to be released on this earth through His multi-membered body, the church. It is His intent for His presence to be released on the earth to an extent that will increase from glory to glory, until "as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the Lord" (Habakkuk 2:14).

"Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).

339

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098055288

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Kingdom of God Is at Hand

The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.

—Mark 1:15

A correct understanding of the concept of the Kingdom of God, synonymous with the Kingdom of Heaven, is a necessary foundation for kingdom living. Dying and going to heaven is not the entrance to the Kingdom of God. Neither do we gain entrance to the kingdom upon Jesus Christ’s Second Coming. The Kingdom of Heaven is only accessed through personal faith in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and is entered simultaneously with new birth.

Jesus Brought Heaven to Earth

Jesus began His public ministry with the announcement that the Kingdom of Heaven had come to earth through His incarnation. In the first chapter of the gospel of Mark, He proclaimed, The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand (Mark 1:15). At hand is a reference to the Old Testament scriptures containing the promise of the coming Messiah. The time is fulfilled proclaimed that the Kingdom of God had come to earth. With this public statement, Jesus was claiming to be the long-awaited Messiah, as well as the vehicle through whom the kingdom had come to earth.

The church of Jesus Christ has taught the need for repentance and salvation throughout the centuries. Nonetheless, the importance of the first part of Mark 1:15, which is the Kingdom of God is at hand, has rarely been emphasized. At hand means with us now—or in other words—as close to you as your own hand. Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary describes at hand as to make near or to come draw near. The Kingdom of Heaven was brought near to us through Jesus Christ, giving us the ability to draw near to a holy God. Through Jesus coming to earth as a man, the very presence of Almighty God came to permanently abide in this world.

The Presence of God Is the Essence of Heaven

Jesus brought the abiding presence of God to earth—first in Himself and then through the sending of the Holy Spirit to remain in His stead. The presence of God ushers in the Kingdom of Heaven, for the presence of God—who is Spirit (John 4:24)—is the essence of heaven. When Jesus was caught up from the earth to sit at the right hand of the Father, the Kingdom of God continued on through the Holy Spirit’s presence in the lives of the many-membered body of Christ. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit had a plan before the foundation of the world to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.

When Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan and subsequently released into public ministry, He could proclaim the Kingdom of God had come. Since He functioned as a man filled with the Holy Spirit, He released the kingdom wherever He went. Jesus was yielded to the Father at all times, allowing the kingdom to flow continuously from His innermost being. Consequently, Jesus could boldly proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven had come to earth—through Him.

Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the Kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is in your midst. (Luke 17:20–21)

During His earthly ministry, Jesus humbled Himself as a man and laid aside His rights as God. He walked this earth as a man completely yielded to the Holy Spirit—an example to us as to how we should walk and could walk in His kingdom while living on this earth.

John the Baptist—Sent to Declare the Kingdom

John the Baptist, who was sent to prepare the way of the Lord, proclaimed: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:2). Jesus Himself proclaimed of John, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! (Matthew 11:11). This great prophet of God was given the message that the Kingdom of God had come. Repentance and the consequent forgiveness of sins are the entrance to the kingdom, but these steps are just the beginning. It is no wonder that John was willing to give his life for the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom. He had received the glorious revelation that His kingdom was actually coming to earth!

The expectation in John’s heart of the coming kingdom is expressed again in the seventh chapter of Luke. At this point in his life, John the Baptist was imprisoned, had summoned two of his disciples to go to Jesus, and had asked if Jesus really was the Christ. There are many things that might have proven Jesus was the Messiah, but Jesus specifically gave an account of signs and wonders singular to the Kingdom of God. The following description in Luke records Jesus’ response to John’s disciples:

When the men came to Him, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else? At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. And He answered and said to them, Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them. (Luke 7:20–22)

Jesus’ report to John contained the proclamation of outward manifestations which showed that the Kingdom of God had come. At a future time, Jesus did announce Himself as the Lamb of God that had come to take away the sins of the world. However, His initial proclamation to John was a list of attesting miracles that proved He was the long-awaited Messiah and that the Kingdom of Heaven had indeed come to earth. After receiving the report of Jesus’ reply to his servants, John was then able to die in peace, knowing the arrival of the kingdom meant the promised One had come and that his ministry was fulfilled.

John’s message was also the call to repentance. From an evangelical view, we do not find the proclamation of the need for the repentance of sins to be strange. However, John’s most vehement message of repentance was to the Pharisees and Sadducees, who represented the established religion of the day. This certainly was peculiar as it would not be common thought to consider the religious leaders of the day—who took great pride in keeping the law—as the ones in need of repentance. In Matthew chapter 3, many of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to John for the baptism of repentance. Knowing their hearts, John’s response to them might seem harsh to many.

You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance. (Matthew 3:7b–8)

John’s message was not only one of repentance from outward sins but also of repentance from dead works and the hidden sins of the heart. The Kingdom of Heaven would not be attainable as a result of human effort or outward show but only as a free gift from the Father through the sacrifice of His Son. John is not commonly thought of as the bearer of the message of grace, but in actuality, his cry for repentance and his announcement of the coming kingdom were the precursors of grace.

Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done

Jesus’ teachings on the Kingdom of God give a new perspective on several familiar portions of scripture. One of these texts is ‘The Lord’s Prayer.’ Most churchgoers were taught this prayer while they were young and may have often repeated it. Nonetheless, I know that I personally, along with many others, may have never paid attention to the reference to God’s kingdom. It has only been in recent years that the Lord has revealed to me the extent and the effect—on heaven and on earth—the words in this prayer have. In Matthew’s account of how Jesus told us to pray, we see the emphasis on the kingdom message.

Pray, then, in this way: Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.] (Matthew 6:9–13)

We are instructed by Jesus in this model prayer to petition our Heavenly Father to send His kingdom to earth. When His kingdom comes, His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. On the other hand, since we are the vehicles through whom His kingdom is expressed, His kingdom will not come to earth if His will is not done. More specifically, His kingdom will be experienced on earth in proportion to the extent His will is done. Expecting the literal Kingdom of Heaven to come to earth through prayer may sound radical to many Christians but is precisely what Jesus told us to pray for. Surely, He would not have instructed us to petition the Father for something He did not intend to provide.

In order to pray specifically for God’s will to be done, we must know what His will is for each situation. In place of a traditional understanding of prayer—telling God our requests—there is a need for prayer to be seen as a two-way conversation with God. As we talk and commune with God during prayer, He imparts direction and insight into our spirit. I like to use the term listening prayer, since when I pray, I anticipate having a conversation with God during which I expect Him to answer. One definition of prayer from the late Oswald Chambers is: Prayer is telling God what I know He knows in order that I may get to know it as He does.

With this definition in mind, prayer is engaging in a two-way conversation with God in order to know His mind, feel His heart, and discern His specific will for each situation. If you are not used to listening prayer, this can seem like a slow process. However, with practice, time spent communing with God in listening prayer will give us the knowledge of His will and a progressive understanding of His ways.

Knowing God’s ways also gives us a better chance of discerning His will for any given situation. Even Jesus proclaimed, The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing (John 5:19). Jesus’ commitment to only do what He saw the Father doing, which would include a commitment to only say what He heard the Father saying, gave Him the ability to continually seek and know the will of His Father. Since our spiritual gifts may not be fine-tuned to the point where we see what the Father is doing or always hear what He is saying, understanding His ways can help us know how to pray.

Releasing the Kingdom on Earth

The Lord’s Prayer was given as a pattern of how we should pray. So when Jesus specifically taught us to pray for the kingdom to come and God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, He was showing us our responsibility as believers in releasing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Matthew 18:18 tells us that whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

The thought of binding and loosing through prayer makes many Christians very nervous. Some do not believe this verse can be taken literally, and others fear knowing what to bind or loose. Since human nature tends to fear the unknown and shy away from the unfamiliar, this verse is largely ignored. The problem with this reaction is that we were not brought into the kingdom to retreat but were brought into the kingdom to intentionally and increasingly occupy (Luke 19:13, KJV) the territory that Adam and Eve forfeited to Satan—until the Lord comes. The Lord is presently seated at the right hand of the Father waiting for His body on the earth (us) to make His enemies His footstool.

But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet. (Hebrews 10:12–13)

With this task at hand and in consideration of the mandate for us to bind and loose, we must refer back to the principle that God never instructs us to do anything He has not thoroughly prepared us to do. Rather than fear binding and loosing, we should be encouraged by knowing that when we speak forth God’s will on earth, there will be results in the heavenly realm, which in God’s timing will then be manifested on earth.

In an attempt to picture the process of releasing the Kingdom of God onto earth, I am going to use a simple illustration, which in no way is meant to be irreverent. Imagine the Kingdom of God as a department store stocked with the answers to every problem the world could ever have. There is peace, joy, love, financial provision for every material need, healthy body parts, and answers for any other person, place, or thing we would ever cry out to God for. Since the list is endless, I will let you imagine what you would ask the Lord to release from the heavenly department store onto earth.

The rules of distribution from the Kingdom Life Department Store are, first of all, the answer must be according to God’s will for the situation or person we are praying for, and secondly, the release of the answer must be according to God’s timing. God’s will and God’s timing are both important keys to remember as we train to release the Kingdom of God on earth through prayer.

In regards to the timing of the Lord, Father once spoke to my heart (with a smile), You speak forth the things I give you and I will schedule them. In other words, it is our job to faithfully proclaim what the Lord shows us, when He shows us. God, however, brings forth His will in the fullness of times (Ephesians 1:10, KJV). The fullness of times can be compared to the development of a baby in a mother’s womb. If the baby is born prematurely—at best—it will struggle to live. In the worse scenario, the baby may have permanent defects or die. Similarly, only God knows when all that He has worked behind the scenes is "full-term" and ready to be released onto the earth. Since God’s ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours, His answers often do not look as we expected and often come after a much longer wait than we would have chosen. Scripture and countless believers, however, testify to the fact that those who wait on the Lord will never be disappointed.

For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him. (Isaiah 64:4)

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. (Ephesians 3:20)

God is the only one Who sees the beginning from the end, and only He knows when our answer is ready to be delivered. For this reason, we must do our best to accurately speak forth what we perceive God is saying—even when we may not understand the big picture. At the same time, we must not allow fear to cause us to draw back and fail to release what God has revealed to us. Just continue to remember that God is in control. He is aware of the frailty of our flesh even more so than we are. He knows the motive of our hearts and our desire—or lack of it—to be faithful servants. In all things, we can rest in His love, depend on His grace, and trust Him to express His will on the earth through yielded vessels—no matter how flawed.

The mandate of releasing God’s kingdom onto earth through prayer is of far more consequence than being concerned about our performance record. What we really need to be concerned with is not praying—no matter what excuses we may come up with. If we do not pray, most often God’s will will not be done on earth. Scripture does not teach that God will never move on earth apart from the petitions of His people, but scripture is clear that prayer is certainly the normal method God uses to release His will on earth, as it is in heaven.

Our First Priority Must Be His Kingdom

God’s kingdom department store is available to meet the needs of not only His children but also the needs of those around us He desires to touch. The Kingdom of God is surely at hand, and Matthew chapter 6 teaches us the priority of seeking His kingdom.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

This is a common scripture. Nonetheless, let us think for a moment as to how His kingdom is sought and how His righteousness is obtained. Depending on our background, each one of us might have a slightly different perspective as to how the Kingdom of God is to be pursued. Many would likely associate some form of Christian discipline as the method of seeking the kingdom, but scripture is clear that by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified (Romans 3:20). The Kingdom of God and the righteousness of God are personified in Christ Jesus and become ours through faith. Even as our growth in the kingdom continues, it will always be faith through grace that compels us to seek His kingdom and His righteousness above all else.

We need to ask our Heavenly Father to open our spiritual eyes to see and understand what the Kingdom of God on earth really is. In the tenth chapter of Matthew, Jesus began to teach His disciples what the kingdom on earth would look like. This verse can be seen as a vital part of the mission statement for His body, the church.

And as you go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. (Matthew 10:7–8)

Jesus was clearly instructing His disciples that what they were being sent forth to do was to proclaim that the Kingdom of God had come. We know that at the time Jesus was teaching them, the disciples did not understand the depth of what they were to proclaim. Due to their Jewish background, they still believed Jesus was going to set up a physical kingdom on earth, which would free them from the tyranny of the Roman government. Although they saw the power and manifestations of the kingdom in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, their preconceived mental image of what they wanted the kingdom to be caused them to miss the reality of what Jesus taught.

Even the apostles who lived and ministered with Jesus did not fully understand the reality of the kingdom they were proclaiming. In the same way, it is likely the majority of the modern-day church does not understand how the Kingdom of God is to be experienced on this earth. No particular camp in the body of Christ has a corner on understanding the kingdom. However, the revelation of kingdom life has been received by a remnant among many denominations and nondenominations that make up His body.

The Kingdom Is Within Us

When the apostle Peter stated, His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), he meant everything! All we need for life and godliness—His divine power—is already available to us while we live on this earth, as citizens of heaven. The divine life of Christ in our hearts not only gives us the fruit of the Spirit but also every gift, office, and ministration of the Spirit, every attribute of His nature, all the blessings of Abraham, and the Father’s favor toward His Son—all as our own. The Kingdom of God really is within us! All that we could ever imagine Jesus being or having available to Him is available to us because He is our life. His nature and all it stands for was exchanged for our nature at the time of new birth.

The nature of someone or something determines how it thinks, feels, and acts. When we act according to our new nature, we will act like Jesus. Jesus was the incarnate Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Since the Kingdom of God is a spiritual realm, there had to be a fleshly channel through which the Spirit of God could be expressed to mankind. Jesus brought the Kingdom of Heaven to earth by humbling Himself and becoming a man. In